China fires 'dozens of missiles' in show of strength during live-fire drills near North Korea as tension escalates over Kim Jong-un's ambitious nuclear test
The live drill took place yesterday in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Gulf in China
- The waters are adjacent to the Korean Peninsula
- It comes as China backed UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea
China's navy and air force flexed their muscles in live-fire drills close to North Korea amid escalating tension over Kim Jong-un's nuclear test.
The drill included the firing of missiles and according to the ministry aimed to hone the military's abilities to conduct coastal assaults.
It comes as China announced it was prepared to face the consequences of backing a US-drafted UN Security Council resolution on sanctions against North Korea.
Military exercises: Destroyer Taizhou fires missile during a drill on August 7, 2017 in China
Video footage shows the drill taking place in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Gulf
Both the navy and army conducted exercises which involved the firing of dozens of missiles
The live drills were held on August 7 just off China's east coast in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Gulf, adjacent to the Korean Peninsula.
Both the navy and army conducted exercises which involved the firing of dozens of missiles.
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Four missile frigates fire missiles during a drill on August 7 in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea
China's Ministry of Defence claim that the drills were aimed at testing weapons
Chinese government announced that it was prepared to face the consequences of sanctioning North Korea
Dozens of ships and 10 aircraft took part in the drills. China's Ministry of Defence claim that the drills were aimed at testing weapons and honing the military's abilities in conducting coastal assaults along with intercepting air targets.
The drill comes just days after China backed new sanctions against North Korea for its nuclear weapons pursuits.
Earlier today, the Chinese government announced that it was prepared to face the consequences of sanctioning North Korea despite being one of its biggest traders.
North Korea has since vowed that the sanctions would not stop it from developing its nuclear arsenal.
Preparing? Dozens of ships and around 10 aircraft took part in the drills
Screened in China: Video footage of the drill was shown on Chinese state television
North Korea has vowed that the sanctions would not stop it from developing its nuclear arsenal
Trump says North Korea will be met with 'fire and fury like the world has never seen' if it threatens U.S.
- President Trump delivered his fiercest warning yet to North Korea this afternoon
- North Korea warned that the United States would 'pay dearly' for the United Nations sanctions regime it successfully imposed over the weekend
- Also threatened 'physical action' and a 'mobilization of all its national strength'
- Trump told the country's leader that additional threats of violence against the U.S. 'will be met with the fire and the fury like the world has never seen'
- Trump previously said: 'After many years of failure,countries are coming together to finally address the dangers posed by North Korea. We must be tough & decisive!'
- Russia and China reluctantly signed on to a United Nations resolution that puts a hard stop to a third of North Korea's export revenue
- US officials believe Kim Jong-Un has built a miniaturized warhead for missiles and are ramping up their rhetoric in turn
- Defense Intelligence officials say he now has 60 nuclear weapons in his arsenal
President Donald Trump delivered his fiercest warning yet to North Korea this afternoon.
Trump told the country's leader, Kim Jong-Un, that additional threats of violence against the U.S. 'will be met with fire and the fury like the world has never seen.'
'He has been very threatening beyond a normal state, and as I said they will be met with the fire and fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before,' Trump added in remarks at the top of an unrelated meeting.
He stopped just short of a firm promise to declare war on Kim's government if the dictatorship continues to talk about 'physical action' to the U.S.
'North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States,' Trump cautioned after a reporter asked him about the nuclear standoff.
President Donald Trump delivered his fiercest warning yet to North Korea this afternoon
Trump told the country's leader, Kim Jong-Un, that additional threats of violence against the U.S. 'will be met with the fire and the fury like the world has never seen'
Comments came during a briefing on the opioid crisis on Tuesday at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster
Trump told the world this morning that it must be vigilant against North Korea in the face of new threats from the country's young dictator.
Kim had warned the United States that it would pay 'pay dearly' for the United Nations sanctions regime it successfully imposed over the weekend and hinted at military action as tensions continued to escalate.
'Physical action will be taken mercilessly with the mobilization of all its national strength,' North Korea's state-run news agency said Tuesday.
The 33-year-old Kim was lashing out at a U.S. push to drain him of the hard currency he needs to develop his nuclear program that Russia and China reluctantly signed on to last weekend.
The sanctions put a hard stop to a third of North Korea's export revenue - a deafening blow to the country's economy.
Trump celebrated the universal participation of Security Council countries in the sanctions with a tweet this morning that said, 'After many years of failure,countries are coming together to finally address the dangers posed by North Korea. We must be tough & decisive!'
A Washington Post report later in the day suggested that North Korea had invented a miniaturized warhead that it has the capability of attaching to the intercontinental ballistic missiles its been testing.
The development brings the country dangerously close to its goal of creating of a nuclear weapon that can hit targets in the U.S.
Alaska, Hawaii and California would be at an especially high risk if Kim's scientists finish the weapons and North Korea decides to use them.
According to the report, US officials estimate that Kim now has 60 nuclear weapons in his possession. By comparison, the US is estimated to have more than 6,800 in its stockpile, and Russia is thought to have 7,000.
A Washington Post report earlier in the day suggested that North Korea had invented a miniaturized warhead that it has the capability of attaching to the intercontinental ballistic missiles its been testing.
Trump stopped just short of a firm promise to declare war on Kim's government if the dictatorship continues to talk about 'physical action' to the U.S. during the meeting in New Jersey with Kellyanne Conway (left), HHS Secretary Tom Price, (second left), Melania Trump (second right) and the National Drug Control Policy Center's Richard Baum (right)
Shortly after Trump's morning message, United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley appeared on Fox & Friends to deliver tough talk to North Korea and take a victory lap on sanctions.
'The United States will respond accordingly, and I think the international community will respond accordingly,' she said of the dangerous actions that Kim could take in response to the punishing actions.
It's up to North Korean leader to decide whether his response is, 'OK the international community is telling me to stop or he is going to have, you know, a temper tantrum,' she'd said.
Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy worried that Kim is rejecting the international mandate. 'It sounds like, we are getting closer to a shootin' war,' he told Haley.
'But we don't run scared,' Haley asserted. 'This had to happen, we had to go after his hard currency, we had to stop it.'
'How he responds? He's now going to have to think what's the end game? Is he really going to come after the United States knowing what the United States can do back? He's gotta make that calculation,' the high-ranking U.S. diplomat assessed.
On Monday, North Korea promised to 'teach the US a severe lesson' if it puts its military might to the test on the Korean Peninsula.
'We will, under no circumstances, put the nukes and ballistic rockets on the negotiating table,' North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said, effectively declining to engage in talks about the nuclear program.
State-run KCNA news agency meanwhile claimed that North Korea 'will make the US pay dearly for all the heinous crimes it commits against the state and people of this country.'
KCNA cautioned the U.S. against 'believing that its land is safe across the ocean' in what it described as a 'stern warning to the US.'
Tuesday it slapped the U.S. again, saying in a statement that appeared in the New York Times: 'Packs of wolves are coming in attack to strangle a nation...They should be mindful that the D.P.R.K.’s strategic steps accompanied by physical action will be taken mercilessly with the mobilization of all its national strength.'
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, 33, warned that the United States would 'pay dearly' for the United Nations sanctions regime it successfully imposed over the weekend and hinted at 'physical action' as tensions continued to escalate
Kim is fuming over a United Nations Security Council resolution that will cut a billion out of his $3 billion economy annually. The resolution bans North Korea exports of coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore and seafood and blocks off other cash-rich avenues, including joint ventures.
The U.S. pushed the resolution through the Security Council on Saturday with the aid of Russia and China, North Korea's largest trading partner.
'Yes, China and Russia were not the easiest, but at the end of the day they came through, and that's all that matters,' Haley said this morning on Fox & Friends of the vote to put heavy penalties on North Korea over its continued nuclear tests.
China favors deconfliction with North Korea and denuclearization of the Korean peninsula but not the displacement of Kim. Beijing is concerned that a coup would put the country's stockpile of weapons in nefarious hands.
It joined the U.S. and 13 other nations that sit on the Security Council in approving new sanctions on North Korea, a nation with whom it shares a border, after Washington threatened to restrict access to its financial institutions last week.
Shortly after the United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley appeared on Fox & Friends to deliver to more tough talk to North Korea
North Korea's ramped up missile tests since Trump took office has the United States pursuing aggressive measures in the region, including Chinese sanctions.
Military action remains on the table on, as well, sparking fears internationally that the conflict will result in war.
A rising number of Republicans - 48 percent - want Trump to go that route. That's a jump from 37 percent in an April CBS News poll.
A majority of Americans are fearful that Trump is not equipped to go to battle with Kim, though. In the CBS survey, 61 percent of voters expressed doubts.
Most do not think North Korea will actually try to strike the U.S. with one of the intercontinental ballistic missiles it's been testing, however.
Nearly seven in 10 Americans think Kim is using the nuclear program to gain power and influence.
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